Nissan's Leaf is withering in terms of sales, and the automaker is looking to fix that through discounts and cheaper lease options.

Nissan's Leaf sales have taken a serious dip this year, having only sold 4,228 for the year through August in the United States. The automaker sold 10,000 Leafs last year and had hoped to double that number this year.

How does Nissan plan to fix this? For starters, it took $3,250 off the price tag of each 2012 Leaf model starting in August. This is a considerable jump from the $850 discounts it was giving back in January. The 2012 Leaf starts at $36,050.

In addition, Nissan is reducing lease costs of the 2012 Leaf from $249 per month to $219 per month with $2,999 down for 32 months.

Nissan's U.S. Leaf sales were affected by sending vehicles to all 50 states, thus having to reduce the number of Leafs sent to California. The problem here is that California is the largest buyer of the Leaf. Right now, dealerships are experiencing an excess of Leafs, having a 114-day supply. Automakers usually only want a 60-day supply at dealerships.

The Leaf also had battery troubles this year, where EVs in Arizona experienced a shorter battery life due to the heat. However, Nissan said that these vehicles had thousands of miles on them and that the battery capacity loss was "normal" for that amount of drive time.

"The sales overall have not met our expectations, but we're working hard to keep pushing," said David Reuter, a Nissan spokesman.

The discounts only apply to 2012 models. The 2013 Nissan Leaf won't be released until early next year.

Looks like CA produces 70% of their own power and buys 30% from other states. Of the 70%, 60% is natural gas, 19% is hydro, 7% wind, 6% neculear, 2% geothermal, 1% solar, and the rest is small change. Looks pretty clean overall.

On the other hand, natural gas is a rather expensive fuel. Relying so heavily on that, as well as buying 30% from other states does explain why electricity in California costs about four times what it does where I live.